Space News Update - August 4, 2014 - In the News Departments Story 1: Science on the Surface of a Comet Story 2: Super Star takes on Black Holes in Jet Contest Story 3: NASA's Spitzer Confirms Closest Rocky Exoplanet Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities Space Calendar NASA-TV Highlights Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

Science on the Surface of a Comet In this computer graphic, NASA's Voyager 1 probe, moving toward upper left, nears the edge of the sun's influence, flying through a region of space dominated by a "magnetic highway" that helps mediate the flow of particles into and out of the solar system. The region includes particles from the sun's southern hemisphere that have been forced northward by the pressure of the interstellar wind. Voyager 1 is expected to cross the boundary into interstellar space sometime within the next few years if not sooner. (Credit: NASA)

Super Star takes on Black Holes in Jet Contest

NASA's Spitzer Confirms Closest Rocky Exoplanet

The Night Sky Sky & Telescope Tuesday, August 4 The red long-period variable star Chi Cygni is having a bright maximum! It was reported at magnitude 4.3 as of July 30th and may still be on the way up. See the article and comparison-star chart in the August Sky & Telescope, page 51. Wednesday, August 5 The Big Dipper hangs diagonally in the northwest at nightfall. Most of its stars are about 80 light-years away. Follow the curve of its handle around left by a little more than a Dipper-length and there's bright Arcturus, due west. Arcturus is the nearest orange giant, 37 light-years away. Thursday, August 6 Last-quarter Moon (exact at 10:03 p.m. EDT). The Moon rises around midnight in Aries, far below that constellation's leading stars. Now that the evening is moonless, explore the telescopic sights of Scutum with Sue French's Deep-Sky Wonders column, charts, and photos in the August Sky & Telescope starting on page 54. Friday, August 7 The Moon, just past last quarter, rises around 1 a.m. tonight. By early dawn Saturday morning it's high in the east, forming a triangle with Aldebaran to its lower left and the Pleiades farther to its upper left. In early dawn these mornings, use binoculars to look for Mars below Castor and Pollux, as shown at right. Sky & Telescope

ISS Sighting Opportunities ISS For Denver: Date Visible Max Height Appears Disappears Tue Aug 4, 8:38 PM 6 min 43° 10 above WSW 11 above NE Tue Aug 4, 10:18 PM 1 min 13° 13 above NNW 10 above NNE Wed Aug 5, 9:25 PM 2 min 16° 16 above NNW Wed Aug 5, 11:02 PM < 1 min 10° 10 above N Thu Aug 6, 8:32 PM 23° 23 above NNW 11 above NNE Thu Aug 6, 10:09 PM Fri Aug 7, 9:15 PM 12° 12 above NNW Fri Aug 7, 10:52 PM 11° Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting Information

NASA-TV Highlights (all times Eastern Time Zone) Thursday, August 6 MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013 NASA MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013 NASA MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013 NASA NASA-TV Highlights (all times Eastern Time Zone) Thursday, August 6 9 a.m. - In-Flight Interview with Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren (Starts at 9:10 a.m.) (all channels) Friday, August 7 8 a.m. - In-Flight Event with Flight Engineer Kimiya Yui (Starts at 8:10am) (all channels) 10:30 a.m. - Video File of the ISS Expedition 45/Visiting Crew Qualification Training Simulation Runs at Star City, Russia (all channels)   Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Aug 04 - Comet C/2014 M2 (Christensen) At Opposition (6.498 AU) Aug 04 - Centaur Object 10199 Chariklo Occults 2UCAC 16453569 (14.7 Magnitude Star) Aug 04 - Asteroid 9995 Alouette Closest Approach To Earth (1.375 AU) Aug 04 - Asteroid 21811 Burroughs Closest Approach To Earth (2.466 AU) Aug 05 - Mercury Passes 8.4 Degrees From Venus Aug 05 - Moon Occults Uranus Aug 05 - Comet P/2010 A2 (LINEAR) At Opposition (1.482 AU) Aug 05 - Comet 127P/Holt-Olmstead At Opposition (1.688 AU) Aug 05 - Apollo Asteroid 2015 LE21 Near-Earth Flyby (0.081 AU) Aug 05 - Asteroid 35165 Quebec Closest Approach To Earth (2.082 AU) Aug 05 - Asteroid 12284 Pohl Closest Approach To Earth (2.145 AU) Aug 06 - Southern Iota Aquarids Meteor Shower Peak Aug 06 - Comet 134P/Kowal-Vavrova At Opposition (3.164 AU) Aug 06 - Amor Asteroid 2015 MX53 Near-Earth Flyby (0.043 AU) Aug 06 - Asteroid 11335 Santiago Closest Approach To Earth (1.736 AU) Aug 07 - Mercury Passes 0.6 Degrees From Jupiter Aug 07 - Comet 320P/McNaught Perihelion (0.977 AU) Aug 07 - Asteroid 132524 APL Closest Approach To Earth (0.882 AU) Aug 07 - Asteroid 5000 IAU Closest Approach To Earth (1.224 AU) Aug 08 - Jason 3 Falcon 9 Launch Aug 08 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #417 (OTM-417) Aug 08 - Comet P/2010 A2 (LINEAR) Closest Approach To Earth (1.480 AU) Aug 08 - Comet C/2014 W7 (Christensen) Closest Approach To Earth (2.573 AU) JPL Space Calendar

Mission to Phobos – The precursor to human Mars landing New Technique Puts Exoplanets on the Scale New Technique Puts Exoplanets on the Scale Food for Thought Mission to Phobos – The precursor to human Mars landing

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute Space Image of the Week Tethys the Target Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute